ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast (Reuters) — A baby girl from the Ivory Coast born with four legs and two spines was reunited with her mother and father in Abidjan on Thursday (April 20) after successful surgery in the United States to separate her from a parasitic twin.
Dominique underwent a six-hour procedure involving five surgeons at the Advocate Children’s Hospital in Park Ridge, Illinois, on March 8. Before the surgery, the bottom half of her not-fully-developed twin’s body protruded from her neck and back.
“I didn’t think I would get my daughter like this, today. It is really miraculous. Thanks too to the surgeons who did the work. Thanks to the American people who helped the child,” said the baby’s mother, who did not want to give her name.
Dominique spent over two months in the United States with her host family, the Swabbs, from the Edgebrook neighborhood in Chicago. She has arrived home in time to celebrate her first birthday in May.